BARE FEET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6362, 8 April 1882, Page 7

BARE FEET.

A QOCSTIOX has been raised in connection with one of the large provincial schools, whether the children might not, with advantage, be allowe:! to adopt the practice prevalent in Scotland, Ireland, and many large districts on the continent and in the colonies, of going b.ire-footed. As against the custom of wearing bad shoes that will let in tiie water and are soaked in wet weather, and stockings which are rarely changed, there can, we think, be no ground to doubt the expediency of abandoning footcoverings altogether. Nature, will be her own shoemaker in the matter of protection, the cuticle being hardened just when; a pad is needed and nowhere else, and she will amply provide for the due defence of the extremity against cold by establishing a more abundant supply of blood to the extremities. As a matter of fact, the heat of the body depends on the vital processes carried on within it, and these are amply sutiicieiit to meet every want. ■ Then, again, it is true, as the medical ofiioer has, in the case to which we allude, reported, that if the foot is not encased in a hard frame or box which impedes the action of the muscles and joints, that organ will be capable of better work in walking and jumping, and it will lie more fully nourished, in obedience to the law that makes the nutrition of every part ana member of the body dependent on exercise for elliciency. To these considerations must be added, that when the extremities are habitually exposed there is less danger of cold-catching than when they are "protected." On hygienic grounds, bare !'<:et are certainly admissible, and the fact that footcoverings are not employed by tin- inhabitants of'regions with climates colder and more variable than our own, is evidence that they are not indisp:n.sil»le, or, as we believe, conducive to health in ICngland. Habit and fashion alone enjoin the wearing of shoes, and to those who in early life are accustomed to go without these articles of dress then: is not only no hardship, but immunity from many troubles—chilblains, corns, cramped toes, and tender feet prominently among the number.—Lancet.